


The Only One it Ever Hurt to Reject

by KayRachaels9



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Needs a Hug, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Exasperated Marinette Dupain-Cheng, F/M, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, No Smut, Overthinking, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 03:08:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18460232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KayRachaels9/pseuds/KayRachaels9
Summary: Adrien is an idiot. Mari "doesn't care" as much as she should.There may or may not be some angsty payback, but it'll actually be cute. Promise.





	1. Why Now?

'She's known me for five years. After three years of idiotic bumbling she finally manages to get over whatever it was and become my best friend. Now she knows me really well, so why in the world would she think this is the right time to tell me?’ Adrien was standing there, mouth slightly agape, trying to fix his eyes on anything in the empty classroom other than Marinette.

 

‘Granted, from her point of view it probably is the best time... but she's missing a lot of details. I'm not ready for this! How do I possibly tell her no?' Marinette made no attempt to move, giving him time to process her confession.

 

‘I really do need to say something, she probably thinks I’m an idiot just standing here like this, but I really don’t want to.’ Adrien resigned himself to what was coming and stepped forward to place his hand on Marinette’s shoulder. 

 

“Look Marinette, I’m so sorry to say this, because you’re probably the only person it’ll ever hurt to reject, but I’m in love with somebody else.” She didn’t appear to do anything as she heard his words, and he may have worried she hadn’t heard him at all if he couldn’t feel her deflate under his hand. 

 

His own heart sunk as he realized that these words probably hurt her more than he thought they would, and he knew he needed to do something to explain. “The thing is Marinette, if it weren’t for Ladybug, I’d take your offer up in a heartbeat, but as it is now, I can’t.” Her body stiffened slightly and Adrien realized that his words weren’t helping. He removed his hand from her shoulder and sat on the stair next to her. 

 

“Look,” He continued as she followed suit. “I know that seems strange, but it’s not just some celebrity crush or idolization or anything. After all, I know plenty about those. I actually know her, we’ve spent time together. I even set up a date for her one time.” Adrien glanced up at her from the floorboards where his gaze had previously found a home. He hardly noticed her confusion as he realized that he probably shouldn’t have admitted to that. 

 

“I mean, I probably shouldn’t have said that. But you were there, I guess I just forgot that I wasn’t. I mean… Okay Look… I should not be telling you this. I should not be telling anyone this. You can’t let anyone know, but I trust you, and I really don’t know how to get out of this hole that I’m digging myself into without just digging until I come out the other side. So here’s the thing,” Adrien stood up and started pacing, once again resolving to not look at her.

 

“Okay, nobody knows this. Not even LB knows this, Mari. But, I’m Chat Noir. No games or tricks or lies, I’m actually Chat Noir, and I can prove it, because I call you princess, and I started doing that when Nathaniel was akumatized and wanted to go on a date with you. Also, I took you to the date that I mentioned back when Andrė the ice cream man was akumatized and wanted to get you. I understand if you’re upset that I didn’t tell you, but I did it to keep you safe, and now that I know you had a crush on me, I’m sorry for calling you princess, even if you didn’t know that was me, I can see how it might come off wrong.

 

“But look, I really would go out with you if not for LB, out of all the love confessions I have to deal with and all the crazed fans, and even Chloe, you’re the first person to confess to me where I didn’t want to say no. I’m so sorry, and I’m really sorry if this hurts our friendship, and I don’t want you to be upset. I hope you understand now that you know about um, everything… I just… Will you say something?” He stopped his pacing and his rambling and he turned towards her waiting to hear anything that could help him understand what was going on now. 

 

What he didn’t realize is that his nervous fidgeting and inability to be subtle gave Marinette more than enough time to process what was said and come up with a plan of her own. She was going to get her revenge, and possibly even have some fun with it. After all, when has she ever given up the opportunity to mess with Chat Noir? “You stupid cat.” Were the first words out of her mouth as she stood up, and with one look at Adrien’s face, she knew she was going to enjoy this. After all, for the last five minutes, and the next ten seconds, she was the only one capable of seeing all four sides of the love square, she had to soak it in.

 

“I would have choked you if it were anyone else. We’re both idiots, especially after this. Not that I wanted identity reveals to go down anytime soon, and definitely not like this, but you’re lucky that it was me you told.” She walked to the door resting her hand gently on the knob and hesitated for a moment before saying “I’ll see you tonight at patrol.” And opening the door so she could make her way home.

 


	2. Two Weeks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor baby. His thoughts are spiraling.

‘Two weeks’ Adrien thought to himself ‘We’ve known about each other for two weeks, that I love her, that she loves me, that we’ve been right at each other’s sides for the last five years, and we’ve still done nothing. She knows that I love both sides of her, I made it very clear before I even knew she was LB that I would have been with her if I didn’t love her alter ego first. I don’t know if she loves Chat, but I know she at least cares, and she does love Adrien, so I’m sure she could come to love the rest of me.’ Adrien leaned back in his desk chair and stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom as his mind wandered off to a new train of thought.

 

‘But maybe she can’t. Maybe that’s why she hasn’t done anything. She hasn’t hung out with me as Adrien recently, and we would do that all the time before we knew. My dad even liked her since she was a designer, she was the one person besides Chloe who was actually allowed to spend time with me at my house. Her trap door is always locked, not that I’d even want to try and get in without her letting me in herself, but it was pretty obvious that was specifically for me since she painted a green paw print on the newly surfaced padlock.’ He quickly spun his chair around and grabbed his blond hair tightly.

 

“Plagg, claws out.” He grumbled, walking towards his window, jumping up to the ledge the second his transformation finished. A run could solve this. Or maybe sitting on top of the Eiffel Tower. Wasn’t that where he used to think back when his room still felt suffocating? 

 

It was an issue that almost vanished the first time Marinette came in to play Ultimate Mecha Strike with him. The second time she hung out with him in his room, he had plenty enough good memories that he didn’t have to worry about feeling alone in there anymore. But now that Marinette wasn’t visiting him? It was seeming to get harder and harder to breathe. 

 

Adrien reached the Eiffel Tower far too quickly for his liking, but at least it didn’t have walls and large glass panes to trap him in. ‘Is being Chat Noir really enough to make her stop liking me? To forget everything she felt for Adrien? Everything she saw in him is still under the mask. Did I do something to her as Chat? The occasional kiss to her hand, maybe an affectionate nickname here or there, but nothing inappropriate. Surely she doesn’t blame me for anything I’ve done under the influence of an akuma’s powers? I know I’ve probably entered her personal space more than she would like, but it’s not like she hasn’t rubbed up against me either, it’s battle. We’re bound to have a little physical contact here and there.’

 

He started pacing again, a habit that became worse as time went on. He wasn’t necessarily complaining as it burned calories and didn’t leave him berated at photoshoots like biting his nails would. ‘There’s no way she’s mad at me for not telling her about my identity sooner, she might have been had she just been a civilian, but as Ladybug she’s always been very protective about identities. That wouldn’t be fair of her.’ He punched the tower as the first tear fell from his eye. He always cried when he got too angry, not that he ever noticed. 

 

‘She could be upset that I was willing to show a civilian. It was her first rule and I broke it. As an excuse to get out of a love confession nonetheless. Still, doesn’t she realize she was the only one I trusted enough to tell? Alya and I are nearly as close as Marinette and I, but I wouldn’t have told her if she came to me with a love confession. Then again, how could she possibly know that?’ He slumped down to the floor with his back resting against the tower.

 

‘How could she know that I wouldn’t tell anyone else? How could she know that my room feels suffocating without her in it? How could she know that without her, there’s nobody else around who loves me?’ The thoughts came faster than he could catch them and even though he tried to push them back down, he couldn’t hide them anymore as they’d found their way into the open. 

 

His eyes were closed as Marinette landed down gently beside him. He hadn’t noticed she was there until he felt a hand gently caress his cheek. “Why are you crying, kitty?” He heard as his face turned to her in surprise.

 

“I guess I hadn’t noticed.” He responded, turning his face from hers once again.

 

“I haven’t found you alone up here in a long time. Want to talk about it?” Her voice was gentle, and he tried hard not to think into it, but his brain seemed to be stuck in its spiral.

 

“What did I do?” He wasn’t sure if the sound even came out of his mouth or if he had just thought the words as they we so quiet. He was starting to lean towards the latter when he heard her voice.

 

“What are you talking about?” How could she not know, they’d been partners for five years, she was his best friend outside the mask, surely by now she knew that she occupied his every thought.

 

“You’ve barely spoken to me for two weeks, we haven’t even hung out. Is knowing I’m Chat really that bad?”

 


	3. What Did We Do?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They've got stuff to work out.

“Adrien,” He cringed, she didn’t even want to talk to Chat, of course it was that bad. “Where is this coming from?”

 

“Look Mari, I’m so sorry for whatever I did. Please, I need you to talk to me again. You were the only person in my life who cared. My mom’s gone, my dad doesn’t listen, none of the staff care. Sure, there’s Alya and Nino, but they aren’t allowed in the house, and it’s not like they know what you know. I can talk to you in a way I can’t talk to anyone else. You haven’t seen me up here in two years, because two years ago is when a girl named Marinette first came into my room and made it feel like it wasn’t suffocating anymore, since then I’ve just been able to sit there and think through my problems. But now you’ve stopped talking to me, and it’s like all the happy memories were sucked right back out with the oxygen all over again. I need you in my life, and I don’t know what I did wrong so I can’t even begin to try and fix it.” He buried his head in his hands and rested them on top of his knees as she began to process what he told her.

 

“Kitty,” She hugged him as he stayed curled up where he was, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize… I just, I wanted to tease you after the reveal. Give you a bit of a hard time over rejecting the love of your life. You stopped flirting during battle and figured you were playing along now that we could see how we’d fallen for different sides of each other. I’m so sorry.” She squeezed him tighter before pulling back to look at him.

 

His head was still buried in his hands when she pulled back, so he turned his head so that he could see her without leaving his curled position. “I stopped flirting because I thought I’d upset you and I didn’t want to push you further away. I figured that at least now you kept up appearances in front of Alya and Nino, I didn’t want you to stop spending time with me all together.”

 

“Adrien, Chaton, I’m so sorry. It was a stupid game of hard to get, I should have realized you were upset, I really did just think you were playing along. I’m a terrible friend.” She was now curled up in a similar position to him with her arms wrapped around the outside of her legs and her head resting on her knees to look at him.”

 

“So you’re not disappointed that I’m Chat, or mad at me for anything?” He looked down again, not wanting to hear the inevitable list of shortcomings.

 

“You stupid cat, I don’t think I’m capable of being mad at you.” She said, “and disappointed? I literally confessed my love to you about five minutes before your reveal. I don’t know how you went around the past two weeks thinking that no longer applied.”

 

“Well, I’m kind of used to going around having my imperfections picked out and handed to me on a list of things I need to fix.” He shrugged as if it were something normal.

 

“Adrien,” She reached over and cupped the back of his head. “Please, forgive me for making you upset, I really did think that the Chat-sanova would have not only joined me, but bested me in my little game. I’m really sorry, I should have waited to play games until after we had a real conversation about all of this. I - How do I make this better?” She looked almost pleading.

 

“Unfortunately for me Mari, I don’t really think I’m capable of being mad at you either. You’re really not disappointed or upset or anything?” He looked like one wrong word would break his heart all over again, and she could feel her own starting to crack. 

 

“No Chat, I’m really not. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner, and the two boys fighting for my heart have turned out to be one amazing, kind, dorky, handsome, very brave boy. Honestly, I’m the one who should be worried. You’re amazing on both sides of the mask. I know you’re too nice to say it, but when you find out it’s Adrien Agreste and a random baker’s daughter hiding behind the masks of Paris’ heroes, well, it’s not hard to see that one comes out on top.”

 

He quickly grabbed her wrist and glowered into her eyes. “I’ll hurt you.” Was all that followed.

 

“What?” Confused and concerned she tried to yank back her wrist so she could figure out what he was going on about now, but he only held on tighter.

 

“I said, ‘you say one more mean thing about My Lady and I’ll hurt you.’” He let go of her wrist abruptly, but continued with his glower. 

 

“Chat, I am your lady.” She rolled her eyes.

 

“Ah, so you admit it?” He teased, “I’m 100% serious though, you need to stop saying bad things about her or I’ll be forced to teach you a lesson.”

“Oh really? And how would you do that?” She countered, crossing her legs and leaning forward.

 

“Well, I’d have to be careful you see, because if I actually did hurt you, I’d have to teach myself a lesson as well. So instead I’d be forced to try and remind you just how wonderful you are.” He turned around and laid down so that his head rested in her lap.

 

“And how do you plan to do that?” She smiled down at him.

 

“Well, I’ll tell you all the things I love about you, and as time goes on and our relationship grows, I’ll start to accompany my words with such things as kisses and cuddles, and one day, a ring.”

 

“Hmm, and how do you know I won’t just start saying bad things about myself so that I can get kisses and cuddles and kind words?” She leaned down closer to his face so that he would make no mistake about her intentions. She knew he was starting to get the point as his eyes darted to her lips and then back to her eyes. 

 

“That part is easy,” he supplied “I’ll just have to be sure to give you those things when you’re not saying bad things about yourself too.” The grin on his face finally reaching his eyes, assuring her he was quite proud of himself. 

 

Not as proud as she was, however, when she leaned down and kissed him for the first time. (Non-akuma based, that is.)

 

\------------------------------------

 

Needless to say, Alya and Nino spent the entirety of the next school day with their jaws on the ground as Marinette and Adrien acted not just as a couple, but an overly comfortable one at that.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Don't hate me for the chapter ending, it was like the second thing I planned. Also, this is my first fanfic, so comments and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism are welcomed.


End file.
